We offer assessments to suit a client's specific needs

We place the client, their identity and their goals central to our assessment process. Many clients have commented that our assessment helped them to make sense of their difficulties and rehabilitation goals. In the course of most assessments, clients have the opportunity to attend community meetings with staff and clients and to meet with current clients at our centre. Following any assessment, we provide clients with a summary of our findings and recommendations. We provide a full report to the client and those professionals involved in the client's care, where the client has consented to this. We offer three main types of assessment described below:

Rehabilitation programme assessments

Rehabilitation programme assessments are aimed at developing a shared understanding with the client and others involved in their care, of the client’s current situation and rehabilitation needs. In the course of this typically two-day assessment process, our interdisciplinary team works with the client and their family to develop a shared understanding (or formulation) of the client’s rehabilitation goals and needs and a plan to achieve these goals. These assessments typically include:

Two ‘getting to know you’ sessions with an assessment co-ordinator

A psychological or ‘mood’ assessment

Cognitive assessment

Functional assessments in everyday settings and at the Oliver Zangwill Centre on tasks that matter to the client

Involving family members in sharing their perspectives on the impact of the client's difficulties

A formulation and feedback session in which we share our understanding with the client and others involved in the client's care

Bespoke assessments

Bespoke assessments are typically more focused on specific aspects of the client's difficulties. Because we are a highly specialist centre, people who refer clients to us may ask specific questions about a client's difficulties and rehabilitation needs. Examples include vocational rehabilitation, psychological therapy, detailed neuropsychological assessment, or cognitive rehabilitation. Again, we collaboratively develop a formulation, identify goals, and make a plan for the future.

As our bespoke assessments are tailored to the needs of individual clients and referral questions, the content varies for each person. If, for example, clients attend for a vocational assessment, it is likely that the community and functional task sessions will be replaced with a work visit. Clients attending bespoke assessments benefit from the therapeutic milieu offered by our centre and also have the opportunity to engage with other clients at our centre.

Medico-legal assessments

The client’s solicitor usually arranges a medico-legal assessment. The medico-legal assessment will typically last a day, and will involve an interview and in-depth assessment of cognitive function. After the assessment, the clinical psychologist involved in the assessment will write a report within a pre-arranged time-frame, and send this to the instructing solicitor.